5 March 2014  The Security Council today extended for another 13 months the mandate of the panel of experts dealing with United Nations sanctions imposed on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) for testing nuclear arms.

Sanctions were first imposed on DPRK by the Council following nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, including a ban on the import of nuclear and missile technology. The sanctions were further tightened in January 2013 after the country reportedly launched a long-range Unha-3 rocket from its west coast, and then again in March 2013 after another nuclear test.

The Council created the panel of experts in 2009 to assist the committee that is tasked with monitoring the sanctions.

In the resolution adopted unanimously today, the Council extended the mandate of the panel until 5 April 2015, and urged all States, relevant UN bodies and other interested parties to cooperate fully with the committee and the experts.

The resolution also outlined a series of reporting deadlines for the panel of experts, both to the committee and to the Council, with its final report to the latter due no later than 5 March 2015.